Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones On The Verge Of Historic Blunder

If the rumors abound offer any truth whatsoever, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is on the verge of making history.

To this point, Jones has hired six head coaches, and is about to make a historic decision regarding the seventh. If Jones removes the interim tag from Jason Garrett’s job title, the glory of the Dallas Cowboys is certainly gone for the long, long term.

It has been mentioned by many, including myself, that Garrett lacks the resume, credentials or credibility to become a head coach in the NFL, at least at this point in his young and checkered career. There’s not much reason to get into his actual results.

It was reported early Sunday by basically every mainstream media outlet that Jones has already decided that Garrett is his man heading into the future. However, Jones denied that rumor just prior to Sunday’s regular season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles during an interview with Tony Siragusa of Fox Sports.

What Jones says and what he actually means has always been a mystery. But even in denying the said rumors surrounding Garrett’s pending promotion, he still did not close the door completely. This tells me one of two things.

First, Jones’s loyalty to the Garrett family is something that he is just unwilling to break. It would be one thing if Garrett sported the kind of offensive prowess and stamp of success that some innovators like Bill Walsh, Don Coryell, Mike Martz or even Norv Turner possessed. But this obviously is not the case.

Second, Jones has no intention of reaching out to a big name that could cost upwards of $10 million per year, not getting much in return until possibly 2012 since labor war is about to really heat up between the owners and the players.

This one’s going to be ugly, and the writing has been on the wall that there may very well not be football in 2011.

Perhaps it is a combination of those two things.

It is no secret that the U.S. economy is collapsing as quickly as the prestige of America’s Team. You combine this with the fact that Garrett will work for peanuts compared to someone with a big ring on their finger, and this unfortunate direction makes more sense.

Then there is the issue surrounding Cowboys Stadium, rumored to sport some silly corporate name and logo right around Super Bowl time. Wal-Mart Stadium in Arlington perhaps?

Given the way this team plays lately it would be appropriate. This is certainly some bargain basement, cheap football from some other country.

Did Jones get himself into a bit of a financial squeeze box with that extravagant facility? You wouldn’t think so, and I’m no financial expert, but it seems that there is concern. Jones indicated that fact during his recent appearance on the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes".

Hiring Garrett to long-term status will have to pay off immediately. Nothing about Garrett’s career as a player or assistant coach points to this likelihood.

Sure, Dallas could start fast, but the pressure will be immediate and constant, and the instant that the Cowboys struggle, the hot-seat will fire up under Garrett, easily the most polarizing figure in the organization aside from the owner himself.

I won’t pretend to know what Jones will do, but it does not look good right now. Either the pending labor dispute and /or personal relationships, which usually should not be mixed with business of any kind, are about to handcuff Dallas Cowboys fans with even more years of Garrett’s silly college spread offense combined with the playcalling of a 10-year-old playing Madden 11.

If Jones really decided four years ago that Garrett was eventually going to be his head coach, regardless of the results, then he is not as smart as I have always thought he is. Only through this shortsightedness could one not see nor remember the catastrophic failures of this team since Garrett has been involved.

And how could you decide now, especially given the proven names out there, that you do not want to even talk to any of them?

Nobody?

Really?

For now I will give Jones the benefit of the doubt. After all, he did refute the Sunday reports that Garrett was a done deal moving forward. But I have to admit that there is the odor of irrational and emotional decision-making that has been a hallmark of Jones tenure as owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

This could genuinely be his greatest professional mistake.